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Greater Churches NetworkFriends of St Chads
The Friends of St Chad’s is a charity with the purpose to "preserve and maintain ... this beautiful church". To become a Friend (£5 per year) and/or to give a donation please follow this link to a printable form which can be filled in and returned to the address on the form. Its funds are used for the internal decoration, renewal and enhancement of the church, and are raised by organising about six social events each year, and also by operating the St Chads Tea Room, open throughout the Shrewsbury Flower Show in August. Pictured below are 3 of the enthusiastic members of a large team of volunteers at the 2010 Show.
Message from the Friends after the Show in 2011: “We have had a bumper year, raising a net sum of £3,279 for Friends’ funds - which will of course be used exclusively for the maintenance and upkeep of the church building. Thank you to everyone who helped in any way - baking, washing up, clearing up, serving cakes, pouring tea, receiving cash, fetching and carrying, spreading the word, or even just coming in for a cuppa! It was an absolutely magnificent joint effort by a very large number of people from St Chad’s family, and from some who just joined in on the day. Thank you all. “
Coffee morning in aid of the
Friends of St ChadsSocial events include concerts, garden walks, coffee mornings (see photo above right) barbeques and speakers. Please contact the Friends of St Chad’s for more information about current activities and opportunities to help. The St Chad’s Memorial Fund is a resource which has made additional worthwhile contributions to the up-keep of the building - and thanks to its imaginative concept, it will continue to do so year after year. Please click here for further information about the Memorial Fund.
John Patrick
Chairman of Friends of St Chads.John Patrick (pictured right) is Chairman of the Friends of St Chad’s which is a charitable, secular-based fund placed outside the day to day working of the Church.
The church building is not only about religious activities involving members of the regular congregation. Many of us may not be interested in this sort of involvement but we do recognise the place that this important building has in our town. The Friends are here to help the Church care for the fabric of the building, rather than being known as part of the religious life of the church community.
We appeal to townsfolk of Shrewsbury, to visitors from abroad and to those from other parts of the United Kingdom. Many of you will visit the Church, built in the 1790's, as part of Georgian Shrewsbury for all sorts of different reasons. It is an architectural and historical gem within the loop of the river Severn in the centre of Shrewsbury, and has a most important position overlooking the Quarry Park. Each Summer it sits looking benignly over that same park in the weeks of preparation for the Shrewsbury Flower Show, one of the largest Flower Show weekends in the UK. Throughout the year it is a hive of activity: carrying on all the duties one would expect of course, but also taking its place in the town community, as a place for Civic and Remembrance occasions, for charity events, musical evenings, and as a central venue for the artistic and cultural scene that a county town wants its citizens to experience.
The Friends hope that everyone - whether from the towns, villages, fields and hills of Shropshire or from further afield - will see that this remarkable circular church built over two hundred years ago has an increasingly important part to play in the life of Shrewsbury. This of course is a heavy financial commitment, and money does not grow on trees. The objective of the Friends is unashamedly to raise money so that future generations are able to view St Chad’s Church and enjoy all that it has to offer.
John invites you to join the Friends (annual subscription £5) and to contact him with any queries at friends@stchadschurchshrewsbury.com